Friday, July 21, 2017

Written by Jon Williams

May, 1940. With
World War II in its early days, the Battle of France raged. As the month wore
on, the advance of the German military left a group of Allied forces cut off and
pushed back to the sea near Dunkirk. Thus began Operation Dynamo, a British-led
effort to evacuate the Allied soldiers, so crucial to the already tenuous war
effort, from their perilous situation. Because of the shallow waters in the
area, only small craft could be used. Nevertheless, the eight-day action
resulted in the successful rescue of more than 300,000 men.

Patrons
interested in the story behind the Battle of Dunkirk are in luck, with a wealth
of materials examining this momentous event. To go along with the movie,
historian Joshua Levine has taken a fresh look at the lives of all those
involved in the battle for a companion
audiobook. Walter Lord’s 2012 work The
Miracle of Dunkirk was based on extensive interviews with the battle’s
survivors. And in 2004, the BBC put together a three-episode
docudrama that broke the battle down to show how it progressed on a
day-by-day basis.

With the end
of World War II now more than seventy years in the past, it won’t be long before
it fades from living memory. However, there is no shortage of media that will preserve
its legacy for future generations. One of the most valuable contributions is
from acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns, whose documentary series The
War deals primarily with the perspective of Americans on the home
front. Along similar lines is WWII
in HD, which uses immersive footage to depict the front lines. Also
produced by the History Channel, The
Third Reich examines the rise of Nazi Germany. On the other side of the
world, War
in the Pacific and Hell
in the Pacific look at the war as it took place away from the Atlantic
Theatre.

There are
literally hundreds more documentaries and movies which delve into World War II
and its various aspects. To find more, simply SmartBrowse World War II on our website,
and please let us know about those you’ve found to be interesting and/or
popular at your library in the comments section below.